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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22887688">35 Days in New York</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstbot/pseuds/angstbot'>angstbot</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Readers' Choice [25]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV), Swen, swan queen - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:55:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,595</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22887688</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstbot/pseuds/angstbot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: In season 3 ep12, when the gang was transported back to Storybrooke, the town was not spell protected. Regina went to New York instead of Hook to try and find Henry. No memory potion, so both Emma and Henry don’t have any memories of Storybrooke. Regina bumps into them completely by fate and Emma tries to pick her up. Regina plays along so she can meet Henry. How will the truth be revealed to Emma and Henry without betraying their trust? Readers’ Choice VIII, Part 2.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Readers' Choice [25]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/580855</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>223</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>35 Days in New York</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>In classic Readers' Choice style, this is word-count delimited. Since it has taken me so long to write and my follower count isn't moving as fast as it used to, I decided to go with increasing the length by how long it takes me to write, i.e. the word count is my # of Tumblr followers + the # of days since prompts were selected.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Day 1</em>
</p><p>As the curse smoke cleared around her and she realized that she was in Storybrooke, Regina had one thought: Henry. She didn’t know how, but her counter-curse must have stopped Pan somehow. Emma and Henry couldn’t be far down the road—she would go after them. She had her car keys in hand when her phone rang.</p><p>“I don’t have time for you, Snow,” she muttered, declining the call. “Oh! I can call Emma.”</p><p>She paced in her entryway as the phone rang. Emma declined the call once, twice. </p><p>“This is not a time to drive safely, Ms. Swan,” Regina muttered, calling again.</p><p>“Hello?”</p><p>“Finally, you pick up. We’re here. In Storybrooke. Pan’s curse didn’t take. You can come back.”</p><p>“Lady, you have the wrong number.”</p><p>“What are you talking abou-”</p><p>She hung up.</p><p>“I’m going to kill her.” She had just started to dial Henry’s phone instead when there was a pounding at her door. Maybe Emma had been playing an ill-advised trick?</p><p>But when she flung open the door, it was Snow and Charming on her doorstep.</p><p>“Whatever it is, I don’t have time. I have to go after Henry.”</p><p>“Regina-” Snow tried to come in.</p><p>“I don’t have time for this.” As she started to block Snow from entering, she realized she was much larger in the front than she’d been expecting. Looking down, she saw Snow was very pregnant.</p><p>“Regina, do you remember the last several months? Because we don’t.”</p><p>**</p><p>“Regina, think. If we’ve been- <em>somewhere </em>for at least eight months, the curse was cast. They won’t remember.”</p><p>Snow and Charming had accepted quickly enough that she couldn’t remember anything either, but they had been trying to talk her out of going to New York for the better part of an hour, even standing in her bedroom doorway as she packed a suitcase, and she was losing patience. “I don’t care. Your dwarves proved the town line isn’t protected, didn’t they?”</p><p>“Yes, but-”</p><p>“I have to find my son!” Regina knew she sounded hysterical, but his absence was like a physical wound. “I don’t care how many millions of people live in New York. I don’t care if they’re not even in New York anymore. I don’t care how long it takes. I have to find my son.”</p><p>“Okay,” Snow said softly. “But be careful. And check in with us.”</p><p>“I’m not a child!”</p><p>“Of course not. But Emma and Henry would never forgive me if they <em>did</em> remember and come back here and couldn’t find you.”</p><p>Regina was confused enough about the idea that Emma would want to find her that she absentmindedly let Snow hug her goodbye.</p><p>**</p><p>
  <em>Day 5</em>
</p><p>“Shit,” Regina hissed, fumbling with her umbrella, turning her body to shield it from the wind to try to turn it right side out before she was drenched.</p><p>“Looks like you could use some help.”</p><p>An arm was holding a large umbrella over her, and when she looked up to see its owner she gasped.</p><p>“Everything alright?” Emma asked.</p><p>“Yes,” Regina managed. “Thank you.”</p><p>“You sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”</p><p>“It’s- been a strange day.”</p><p>“Yeah, the weather’s a mess. Look, my son and I were just going to go have a hot cocoa.” She gestured over her shoulder.</p><p>Regina’s gaze followed her hand, and the sight of Henry standing under the awning of a nearby café almost unraveled her completely, but she managed a mute nod of acknowledgement.</p><p>“You look like you could use a warm drink. Do you want to join us?”</p><p>Regina nodded again, hoping she would get over her shock soon. Following them into the café, she took a deep breath and tried to find her scheming side. She had to draw this out, to not waste this opportunity to get her son back.</p><p>“Two hot cocoas with cinnamon and- I just realized I never caught your name.”</p><p>“Regina.”</p><p>Emma’s smile was bright. “That’s a really pretty name. I’m Emma and this is Henry. What would you like, Regina?”</p><p>“A double espresso.” Maybe the caffeine would help her focus.</p><p>“Regina will have a double espresso,” Emma repeated to the barista, pulling out her wallet.</p><p>“Oh, you don’t have to-”</p><p>“I’d like to. If that’s alright. Seems like you’re having a hard day.” Emma was so gallant, and smiling at her so charmingly, that she found herself smiling back.</p><p>Once they had their drinks, Henry led them to a booth by the window, and when they settled into it, Regina was so reminded of Granny’s that she felt tears pricking her eyes.</p><p>“So, Regina, what were you up to today that you let us interrupt you for a drink?” Emma asked, drawing her attention again.</p><p>“Just looking around.”</p><p>“Looking around?” Henry asked, skeptical.</p><p>“I recently moved here, so I’m trying to get a sense for places, people- good coffee.” She raised the cup in a salute and he smiled at her, suspicion allayed. “So if you have any suggestions- either of you,” she added, realizing she was focusing too much on him.</p><p>“Yeah, for sure,” Emma said. “We should totally show you around. Like that pizza joint around the corner from our place, or the High Line.”</p><p>“Come on, mom, we can’t go to the High Line when it’s all gross outside.”</p><p>Hearing him say “mom” so easily and knowing he didn’t remember her had Regina’s heart clenching, but she did dimly hear Emma say, “Not today, I mean when the weather is nicer.” The tension released just a bit. She had a way to see them again.  </p><p>“I’d like that,” she pushed out around the lump in her throat.</p><p>“Good,” Emma said, with that million-watt smile again. “You know, you seem familiar. Have we met before?”</p><p>“I don’t think so. I guess I just have one of those faces.”</p><p>Emma gave a little snort. “No, you don’t. You’re shockingly beautiful.”</p><p>“Get a room, mom.”</p><p>Oh. Emma was flirting with her. That was why she was so attentive and trying to see her again. She hadn’t realized Emma was interested in women. It wasn’t the worst thing she could think of. But what was she doing? Emma didn’t know who she was. It would be wrong. Wouldn’t it? Maybe if it was just for Henry. She wouldn’t let it get out of hand.</p><p>“Regina?”</p><p>“Mm?”</p><p>“Did we make you uncomfortable? Henry tries to be my wingman, and it’s cute if borderline inappropriate.”</p><p>“Oh- no. I was just surprised.”</p><p>Emma winced. “I’m sorry. I just assumed you were gay too, you know, hanging out around here.” She gestured to the wall and Regina realized for the first time it was covered in different rainbow flags.</p><p>“I am!” Regina blurted. This couldn’t end this way. “I mean, kind of. I- I can’t have this conversation in front of Henry.”</p><p>“Yeah, sorry. I just- I’m so used to being a single mom. We’re really close. We only have each other, you know?”</p><p>“I do.” She really, really did.</p><p>“Anyway, would you like us to take you to the High Line on a nice day sometime?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Let me get your number.” She saw Emma shoot a warning look at Henry not to tease. “Here, call yourself.”</p><p>Emma handed her phone across the table. Regina obediently typed in her number and hit call, half-expecting to come up as a known contact. She didn’t, and breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly declined the call before either of them saw that “Emma” had popped up on her phone.</p><p>“I’ll call you when the weather clears up and see when you’re free.”</p><p>“That sounds wonderful.” Regina found herself smiling at Emma in a way she wasn’t used to.</p><p>As Emma glanced at her phone before putting it in her pocket, she winced. “Ooh, I just saw the time. We should get going.”</p><p>Regina swallowed back disappointment and nodded. She’d see them again soon.</p><p>**</p><p>Later that evening, Regina shook off her brooding long enough to realize she should tell Snow she’d found them. Emma was her daughter and Henry her grandson, after all, even if she hadn’t cared enough to come looking for them herself. Regina felt annoyed on Emma’s behalf about Snow’s total focus on her second child at the expense of her first.</p><p>Out of that annoyance, she sent a simple text: <em>I found them</em>.</p><p>Unsurprisingly, her phone rang five seconds later. Sighing, she picked it up. It would be quicker than answering the hundred texts that would arrive otherwise.</p><p>“Hello, Snow.”</p><p>“You found them? Are they alright? How did it happen? What are you going to do? Do you think you’ll be able to bring them home? What-”</p><p>“You need to pick one question, Snow.”</p><p>“How did you find them?”</p><p>“Completely by accident. Emma offered me her umbrella.”</p><p>“Oh that’s so sweet! What now?”</p><p>Regina felt a twinge of guilt at that. She didn’t feel right about the outing she’d agreed to. It was a date. She was going on a date with Emma, who would not want to go on a date with her if she had her memories. But this was her only chance to get Henry back.</p><p>“Regina?”</p><p>She had to tell her. “Emma asked me on a date.” She braced herself for the disapproval she knew was coming. Snow’s sense of morality was all black and white.</p><p>But all Snow said was, “That could work.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“It seems like a good way to get to know them and get them to trust you. So you can eventually bring them back here where there’s magic to fix their memories.”</p><p>“You don’t-” She couldn’t believe she was going to ask this when Snow had given her a way out of her guilt. “You don’t think Emma will be bothered once she remembers?”</p><p>“No, I think she’d be glad you helped her come home. She trusts you. So do I.”</p><p>**</p><p>
  <em>Day 11</em>
</p><p>“The High Line used to be train tracks, which I guess you can tell-” Henry trailed off, as if worried he might be teased for stating the obvious.</p><p>“Yes, but go on. What else should I know about it?” Regina smiled down at him, feeling a pang at the fact that it wasn’t as much down as it used to be.</p><p>“Well they stopped using it in the 80s, and put in these nice plants. There’s this really cool statue coming up right down here.”</p><p>“It’s pretty special,” she agreed, entranced by how cosmopolitan and worldly he’d become, but still infectiously enthusiastic.</p><p>“Ooh, mom can I pet that dog?”</p><p>Regina still felt an ache at hearing him call Emma “mom,” but thought she probably hadn’t made a face this time.</p><p>“Okay with me, but ask the person.”</p><p>“Right,” he said, already jogging off toward the fluffy-looking brown dog. Regina wanted to pet it herself. She should have let him have a dog. She would, when she brought them home. If she ever brought them home. Him. If she ever brought him home.</p><p>“You’re so good with him.”</p><p>Startled, she looked up and saw Emma looking at her thoughtfully. “Hm?” she said, hoping to buy time to figure out what that meant.</p><p>“You’ve taken to him so naturally.  Sometimes people are weird about me having a kid.” Her brow furrowed. “Especially men.”</p><p>“Do you date many men?” That couldn’t possibly be jealousy she was feeling.</p><p>“You’re not one of those people who’s a weirdo about Gold Star Lesbians, are you?”</p><p>“No, not at all. Just- strange men around a child seems less safe than dating women, is all.”</p><p>“True. Good thing you seem like you want to keep seeing me for a little bit.”</p><p>And as Emma reached out and slid her hand into hers, Regina found that strangely enough, she did.</p><p>**</p><p>
  <em>Day 14 </em>
</p><p>“I think we did it!” Henry exclaimed.</p><p>“We did?” Regina asked.</p><p>“Yeah! Come over here on your turn and give me the card, and I can cure it on mine.”</p><p>“You’re right, we did,” Emma said. After they’d taken their turns and won, she nudged Regina with her elbow. “You’re great at this. Seeing all the moves and stuff. We should always play cooperative games with you. We’ll always win.”</p><p>Regina felt herself blush under the praise. “It’s an interesting game. You seem to have lots of interesting games.” It was unfamiliar to her, but about curing diseases and stopping worldwide outbreaks.</p><p>“Yeah, there’s this great games and comics store around the corner. We should go there sometime,” Henry said.</p><p>“Yes,” Emma agreed. “But tonight, you’re going to bed.”</p><p>“It’s only ten!”</p><p>“<em>Only</em> ten. And your bedtime is usually when?”</p><p>“Nine. Fine.” He dragged his feet, but went to get ready.</p><p>“I should go,” Regina said, feeling regretful.</p><p>“You could stay and have a nightcap?”</p><p>Regina found that she wanted to, and after Henry was in bed with his door closed, they settled on the couch with glasses of wine.</p><p>“Thanks for being so understanding.”</p><p>“Understanding?”</p><p>“That our dates are for three. I want to take you out just the two of us. Maybe next weekend?”</p><p>Regina blinked, startled. Of course that would be part of the deal. And she realized, suddenly, that she liked the idea of spending time with Emma, just the two of them. She wasn’t sure how she felt about liking it.</p><p>“I’ll take that as a no,” Emma said with a tight smile.</p><p>“No- yes- I mean, it’s not a no. I would like that.”</p><p>Getting Emma’s real smile brought out her own.</p><p>**</p><p>
  <em>Day 20 </em>
</p><p>“I had a wonderful time tonight,” Regina said as they reached the front door of the apartment she’d hurriedly rented, close to Emma and Henry’s place but, she hoped, not suspiciously so.</p><p>As she let go of Emma’s hand, she felt a bit of loss. That made her feel some answering guilt. She was slowly realizing that she wasn’t quite pretending to want to date her anymore. She was kind and generous and funny and gorgeous and really everything Regina would have wanted. She was also different than she had been before—lighter, without having given up Henry, without the pressure of being the savior, without <em>everything</em>. It made her miss the real Emma even as she felt close to this one.</p><p>She realized Emma was looking at her intently, and the air was heavy with something she couldn’t identify.</p><p>Then Emma leaned in to kiss her, and she flinched away without making a conscious choice.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” she said immediately, reaching up to cup her cheek. “I just- you remind me of someone.”</p><p>Emma nodded. “Your wife.”</p><p>“My-”</p><p>“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I figured it out.”</p><p>Regina realized she must have made a skeptical face, because Emma went on, “Come on, I do this for a living. You moved away from Maine for no clear reason, and I see you looking sad and thoughtful a lot when you think I don’t see you. It all adds up. It’s okay that you’re still grieving. I can wait. You’re worth waiting for.”</p><p>It was so sweet that Regina felt tears pricking her eyes. She slid her arms around her and hugged her close, kissing her cheek.</p><p>**</p><p>
  <em>Day 35 </em>
</p><p>The first time Snow called, Regina silenced it. She would call her back after her movie with Emma and Henry. When she called back immediately, she contemplated it for a moment, but decided she was probably just being her pushy self. But when the third call came, she knew she had to answer.</p><p>“I have to take this, I’m sorry.”</p><p>“It’s okay. We’ll pause.”</p><p>Regina smiled at her and went into the hallway, then snapped, “What?!” as soon as the call connected.</p><p>“She wants my baby. Regina, please. Save my baby!”</p><p>“What? Slow down.”</p><p>“It’s the Wicked Witch! She cast the curse that brought us here. So she can steal my baby!”</p><p>“Slow down!”</p><p>“Regina, please, she’s going to hurt my baby. You have to come back to Storybrooke.”</p><p>Glancing up, she saw that Emma had come to stand in the doorway, looking concerned, probably drawn by her sharp tone. She chose her words very carefully. “Okay, there’s a problem with your baby?”</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p> “And you need me to come back to help.”</p><p>“Yes! Please hurry.”</p><p>She pinched the bridge of her nose. A crisis in Storybrooke might take weeks to fix, or result in another curse, and she’d lose all the progress she’d made here.</p><p>“Regina?!”</p><p>“Alright. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up before she had to listen to Snow’s teary thanks. Taking a deep breath, she met Emma’s eyes. “I have to go back to Maine to take care of something.”</p><p>“Okay. How about we come with you?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I’ve been wanting to see where you’re from, and that sounded like something you shouldn’t be facing alone. We’ll make a weekend of it.”</p><p>She felt her eyes fill with tears. Emma was so perfect, and she was in so far over her head in this relationship. Emma stepped forward and wrapped her in her arms, kissing her forehead.</p><p>“You okay?” Emma murmured.</p><p>“You make me think I think I will be.”</p><p>**</p><p>
  <em>Day 36</em>
</p><p>Once they crossed the town line, Regina tried to stay on the side streets. Taking them down Main Street had far too much risk that someone would see them and be too friendly. Snow had said she’d spread the word, but Regina didn’t trust that the secret would hold.</p><p>“This seems familiar,” Henry said from the back seat as they passed the school.</p><p>Regina wasn’t sure whether to be happy or worried about that. “Really?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s familiar to me too,” Emma said. “But it can’t be. We’ve never been to Maine.”</p><p>She decided it should worry her, and deflected. “They did film a movie here a few years ago. I don’t remember what it was called.”</p><p>“That must be it.”</p><p>**</p><p>They made it back to her house without further incident, and Regina remembered to magic all of the pictures of Henry—and, she was startled to realize, of Emma—out of sight under her bed just before Emma had turned to see one. Then she called Snow and David and told them to come over.</p><p>Now, with Henry grudgingly upstairs playing video games on his handheld at Emma’s insistence that this was a serious adult conversation that he shouldn’t be involved in, they were sitting in the study, the door securely closed.</p><p>With a significant look at Snow to remind her to be circumspect, Regina prompted, “What’s going on?”</p><p>“There’s this <em>witch</em> of a woman who’s new in town, Zelena, and she has made it clear she’s determined to kidnap my baby as soon as he’s born.”</p><p>Regina took a deep breath. “Alright, I’ll take care of it.”</p><p>“Whoa,” Emma said. “No offense, but why does Regina need to do that? It seems dangerous. Shouldn’t you call the cops?”</p><p>“Well, we’re sort of between sheriffs at the moment,” David put in.</p><p>“And, since I used to be the mayor, when people need help solving problems, they ask me. Where is she?”</p><p>“We don’t know.”</p><p>“Is Ruby available to help me track her down?”</p><p>“I’ll help,” Emma said.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I find people who don’t want to be found for a living. I can help.”</p><p>“Emma, that’s sweet, but I don’t want you to get mixed up in this.”</p><p>“If you don’t want me mixed up in it, I don’t want you mixed up in it either,” she said with a wry grin. Then she got serious. “Regina, if a friend of yours is in danger, I want to help. And since your town’s apparently without a sheriff right now, I’m the next best thing. I can find this woman before she hurts Snow’s baby.”</p><p>“You’re so wonderfully sweet. I could kiss you.”</p><p>Emma’s “You definitely could” came with an emphatic nod.</p><p>Regina sneaked a glance at Snow, who nodded reassuringly.</p><p>She leaned in to press a sweet, gentle kiss to Emma’s lips, only to feel a pulse of magic flow out from where they touched.</p><p>She pulled back, startled, and Emma blinked at her.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Emma, I didn’t mean to-”</p><p>“Regina, I-”</p><p>“I didn’t know how else to keep seeing you- It was wrong- I took advantage-”</p><p>“Regina!” Emma reached out and gripped her arms hard. “That wouldn’t have worked if we didn’t love each other, right?”</p><p>“Yes, but-”</p><p>“You and me. Not no-memories me. Me.”</p><p>“You-”</p><p>“I mean I had myself pretty fooled about my feelings, but True Love’s Kiss doesn’t lie.”</p><p>All Regina could think to say was “Wow.”</p><p>“Yeah, wow. But, uh, seeing as how it’s you and me, can we do it again as you and me?”</p><p>Regina made a sound that was half-laugh, half-sob and kissed her again, fully, deeply, intensely. It went on and on, and she reveled in exploring Emma’s mouth with her tongue.</p><p>Then the sound of a throat clearing had them jumping apart. Turning, she saw Snow and David looking at them, a trifle sick. David tipped his head at the doorway.</p><p>“Get a room, moms,” Henry said.</p><p>“Henry!” Regina crossed the room faster than should have been humanly possible, hugging him tightly. He hugged her right back, and a moment later Emma came and wrapped her arms around both of them. Regina felt tears running down her face. There was still a witch out there threatening her family, of course, but in this moment, when they were her family again? All felt right with the world.</p>
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